Small & Highly Experienced

We are a small and highly experienced travel company. Marc Patry, one of the co-founders, organized and led his first trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula in 1996 as part of his job managing a Canada/Mexico community sustainable forestry project there. The people on his trip had such a good time, they asked him to organize a follow-up trip to another project site in Chile the following year. This continued with a third trip to Mexico’s Monarch Butterfly reserves in 1998. It came as no surprise that Marc’s loyal followers asked him to organize a cruise to the islands for them – by then, Marc had married Heather Blenkiron and they had recently moved to Galapagos. That was the beginning of Cultural and Natural Heritage Tours.

Close Relationships with our Destinations

Heather and Marc moved to Galapagos just 3 weeks after getting married. They worked for the Charles Darwin Research Station / Galapagos National Park Service from 1998-2002. While there, Heather was asked by the Canadian ambassador to act as the embassy representative in the islands. After his time in Galapagos, Marc took on a job in Paris as the United Nations point man for Galapagos conservation (2003-2014), while Heather raised the boys and nurtured what was at first little more than a hobby travel business. But by 2015, Heather had grown CNH Tours to such an extent that Marc was compelled to leave the UN and join her on a full-time basis.

We have since enjoyed the added support of our senior associate, Kelsey Bradley (also an 8-year Galapagos veteran, much of those as the Darwin Station fundraising manager). More recently, we’ve been graced with the help of Karen Ross (a wildlife ecologist with 30 years of experience in Botswana and Kenya) and Jane Wilson, a 25-year veteran of Antarctica research and tourism.

CNH Tours maintains very close relationships with the places we work with. Few if any travel agencies know their destinations as intimately as we do.

Not a Typical Travel Company

CNH Tours is not a typical travel company. We don’t attend travel trade shows in search of the latest trendy destinations. That’s reflected in the fact that we don’t work with long list of world-wide destinations. Our list of trips is short because we want to develop a strong comfort-level with our destinations before offering them to our guests.

Over our more than two decades of slow and steady growth, our focus has always been to offer what we think is the absolute best advice you can get in considering your trip and planning for it. The answers our front-line staff will have to your questions will come from direct experience, gained over several years.

“Words cannot express my gratitude to you for organizing such a wonderful trip. Every aspect has been pleasurable and memorable and if ever you or your company need a recommendation, please let me know.” - Barbara (UK)

Beyond the obvious pride we have in our expert knowledge, here’s a list of other reasons we think make us stand out as a travel company – or, at the very least, put us in the league of the best companies out there:

1. We Like People

All of CNH Tours’ front-liners are “PEOPLE people”. We like to meet new people. We all have a reputation for hosting parties, organizing events and getting to know the neighbours. For people like us, it’s a real pleasure to help.

2. Recognized Destination Experts

Perhaps we over-emphasize this point – but we think it’s a critical one: We have a very intimate knowledge of our destinations. When reaching out to CNH Tours, you are reaching out to people who know what they are talking about. You will be in touch with people who have many years, if not decades of intimate experience with their respective destinations, and/or are intimately familiar with these places

3. Giving Back

We find it an exciting and welcoming change of pace to get involved in an occasional project to which we can contribute using the tools at our disposal. Over the years, we’ve led, and we’ve been involved in a variety of fund- raising efforts for the Galapagos community, conservation or other good projects elsewhere. Do feel free to get in touch if you think we can work together on a project that is dear to you.

CNH Tours is a full member, and on the board of directors of the International Galapagos Tour Operators Association. Every year, we support several conservation, environmental education, and training projects in Galapagos.

We donated two “Active Galapagos” cruises to this NPR station’s annual fund-raising drive.

We donated one Active Galapagos cruise in support of the Montana Natural History Center’s annual fund-raising efforts.

We donated all the proceeds from a cruise on which Canadian Library Association members participated to the Puerto Ayora Library in Galapagos, operated by the Naturalist Guides Association of Puerto Ayora (AGIPA).

We ran two Active Galapagos cruises for this United World College, sending them all the proceeds.

In addition to years as Station staff, CNH Tours continues to support the CDF as a member of the General Assembly and donor.

With the help of our former guests, we raised over US$54,000 to support the crew and team of the Samba during difficult COVID times.

We ran two not-for-profit cruises for Dustin’s GreenHouse – a charity supporting underprivileged black children in North Carolina.

4. Carbon Neutral

CNH Tours, in cooperation with the United Nation’s recognized Gold Standard certification program, purchases certified carbon credits to offset carbon emissions generated during your trip (in-country emissions only).

5. We're Women-Led

While we have no firm “hire women” policy, it turns out that most of our team members are women. CNH Tours is majority owned by a woman; our sales associates and most site-based logistics coordinators are women.

6. You Benefit from the Ontario Travel Industry Compensation Fund

Booking with us gives you protection under the terms of Travel Industry Council of Ontario’s “Compensation Fund”. The fund was created to repatriate travellers stranded away from home due to airline or cruise-ship bankruptcies or compensate for losses in the case of travel agency bankruptcies.

7. Not the Wild West

The travel industry in Ontario is highly regulated in an effort to ensure you are dealing with well-managed companies with no cash-flow issues. Our annual financial statements are monitored, and we are required to declare the full price of the trips we sell (no hidden charges). In North America, only 5 US states and 3 Canadian provinces impose such regulatory requirements. They are more common in Europe, and all but absent in most other parts of the world.

Meet the Team

Our front-line team (the people you will be talking / email with) team is made up from a handful of experts in the various destinations we offer. That team enjoys the critical support of a small number of behind-the-scenes colleagues that help things “move along”.

Heather Blenkiron

CNH Tours co-founder and front line woman for Galapagos, Heather lived and worked in Galapagos for 4 years. She is the TripAdvisor Destination Expert for Galapagos.

Kelsey Bradley

Front-line woman for Galapagos, Kelsey lived and worked in Galapagos for 8 years. She was the Darwin Station’s fundraising manager, forging excellent ties with the tourism sector.

Marc Patry

CNH Tours co-founder, Marc set up the largest conservation projects in Galapagos history. He spent 11 years as the UN’s point man for Galapagos conservation.

Karen Ross

Front-line woman for Okavango. Karen has spent most of her life in Kenya and Botswana. Dubbed “champion of the Okavango” by the National Geographic magazine for her tireless conservation work there.

Jane Wilson

Former Australian National Parks staffer, Jane went on to support scientific research expeditions in Antarctica, following that up with a 20 year career in Antarctica tourism.

Mercedes Murgueytio

Our very own Extension Specialist, Mercedes is a true veteran with over 28 years of experience in Ecuadorian tourism. She will be able to custom design your perfect itinerary for the time pre and post cruise in Galapagos.